YuGiOh! : Faith in Time
by Magician'sValkyria1208
Summary: Atem realizes his soul will never be at rest when it's torn into multiple pieces. He had tried to be a good man, a fair king and a caring brother. What had he done to deserve this? The Gods might just forgive him and give him another shot. Is he willing to face the most frightening parts of his past, ones that hit far closer to home than evil Zorc.
1. Chapter 1

Welcome! This monster has taken up countless hours of my time but I'm glad to be back and writing.

Firstly, this is an ATEM/Yami centered fic. There will be various POV from the OC, Kaiba and Yugi.  
The pairings are the pairings, there is nothing else there. Read into it what you will, but this is not a yaoi/cest fic.  
Rated M for references to alcohol, drugs, sex, violence and strong language.  
No lemons here. Might get a little lime-y at times though.  
This is pretty deeply rooted in the manga/tv show. I wouldn't consider it AU. However, my changes are my changes. There shouldn't be a crapload of anything too world shattering in terms of canon changes.

Flames will be used to roast marshmallows. I'm including a lot of modern day pop culture/trend/cultural references, brace yourselves.

Also, various song lyrics will make their way into the stories. Just a couple lines here and there. They will be credited, but if the lyrics are changed, I changed them. I know.

ONWARDS:

Atem opens his eyes, his limbs slowly drifting across the warm sand. Mana lies next to him, the soft breeze drifting through their hair. This is paradise, and the days never end here.

"Atem, you always seem so still here. It's...as if you are not at peace... Is it not for souls to cross over to the other side and be at rest, like we are now?"

The pharaoh sighed heavily, staring up into the blue sky and wispy clouds.

"It is Mana. This is a place of eternal rest. I have needed to rest. I just can't..."

"...Can't shake the other little Pharaoh, can you?"

Atem wasn't surprised Mana noticed. These people cared deeply for him, but did he really have a connection with them like he and Yugi had?"

"Atem, this is a place for spirits. It is right for you to be here. Yet you have all of this love in your heart and no one to truly give it to. Your heart still aches because it's empty. You're empty without your best friend. He has a place none of us can fill, Atem."

Atem sat up and looked out over the endless ocean in front of them. His eyes were wet. Without his friends, and the loss of a lot of his memory, his attachment to Egypt had been broken. There was only one other person he had needed to see when he passed over...and she wasn't here.

That shattered what little hope he had to heal the wounds of leaving Yugi, Anzu and the others.

"Mana, I've been trying to deny the sorrow in my heart, but it's still there, and all the eternities I could spend here will not replace the emptiness. I did what was right, a dead cannot stay amongst the living...so what did I do to suffer this?"

He tucked his head into his knees and Mana tried to comfort him.

"Atem, none of us will blame you if you think you made a mistake."

"How could I have made a mistake, Mana? Yugi and I could not share the same body forever. He deserves to be free of me...that's the last thing I could give him as a best friend."

"My Pharaoh, you are right that the dead cannot live amongst the living. I have always felt a little pity for you my king. Your sacrifice cut your life so short. You were so willing to hand over what little time you had. You commanded the gods of Egypt, Pharaoh. Offer your sorrow to them, you have done far more than taken penance for your suffering."

"Mana...are you suggesting that I leave the afterlife...and leave all of you here without me?"

"Atem...My king. My friend...you were trapped between the spirit world and the living world for thousands of years after sacrificing yourself. You deserve a second chance. Go be with Yugi and his friends. You love him like your own blood, Atem. He is the brother you didn't have and the sister you lost. He is the only friend and family you had for a long time. Please Pharaoh, we will meet again in this after life. Hopefully then, you'll bring with you all your joys and memories instead of your tears and sorrows. You'll await here peacefully with your friends and spend eternity with them. My friend. It pains me more to see your heart hurt here than to know you are back in the living world with people who love you."

"How long do you think has passed, Mana? Is -her- soul not here because it is among the living? What if I can't find her? What if Yugi and my friends have moved on without me?"

She hugged him tightly and kissed away the single tear on his cheek.

"Don't worry about that. Close your eyes, Pharaoh. Think of your little pharaoh's smiling face and the warmth of your friend's embrace. Like this one. Call out to them...Atemu. Beseech the gods your truly last request."

Atem felt more warm tears, knowing that if you could weep in paradise, that you had unfinished business. He saw Yugi's weeping form on the concrete floor of the tomb and his heart ached for the friendship and love he saw in their eyes. His heart ached and screamed for them.

The sorrow and tears kept coming, the memories kept flooding and the world spun with the voice of the gods overwhelming him.

Two halves of the same soul, incomplete without the other. While their personalities were different, while their souls reared differently, they were two best friends that could never be separated.

"But...but how?"

The dead cannot reside amongst the living.

The world stopped spinning and Atem heard the soft chirp of a bird. He was still reaching out, his embrace with Mana had broken and it was empty now. He was afraid to open his eyes and still be separated from his heart's desire.

His true heart's desire. To be among the living and to live amongst love and friends.

Atem opened his eyes, and the bare cherry trees swayed gently in the wind. The clouds were drifting a little more heavily by, and Atem realized how harsh the grass felt beneath him.

He sat up and stared right past the bushes into a city road. The Kame Game shop sat to his immediately left, and his heart could have exploded with joy.

The feeling was foreign, and he placed a hand over his heart to feel the beating of flesh and blood beneath it.

"The dead cannot reside amongst the living"

So he was alive.


	2. Chapter 2

Alive. He was breathing. His heart was beating. This...truly felt like joy. Like home.

Despite being adorned as his ancient Egyptian self, Atem ran to the door... banging loudly and yelling for Yugi... he saw a short shadow come to and open it... It was Solomon, a little more elderly than the last time they saw each other, hunched over a little more, but with eyes still very much alert and shocked at the tall figure before him.

"Oh dear...my. Pharaoh, our ancient pharaoh?"

Solomon embraced his other grandson and pulled him into the house by his wrist. Solomon called for Yugi eagerly, his smile widening more every moment.

Yugi Mutou bounded down the stairs typically, stopping just short of the last stair to take in the bright sunlight coming from the door way and the familiar person standing with his grandpa. His heart seemed to stop for a moment, a punch to the gut feeling almost...

"Aibou, you've grown so much...Yugi..."

The 'smaller' Yugi had grown a few inches and broadened out a little. He now wore the face of a young man instead of a teenager, a face that resembled his yami even more so than when they first met.

"No...No...there's no way...Atem!"  
Yugi was trying to balance himself on the stair railing, his knees shaking and his eyes welling with tears in disbelief.

"Yugi I am so sorry..."

Atem held out his arms for a moment, as Yugi let go of the rail and ran towards him, the two embracing each other and falling back into the door frame in a flood of tears.

"Yami...Atem...you passed on. You left. You're gone...Yami...Aibou...this can't be real!"

The slightly taller Pharaoh squeezed a little tighter.

"Yugi...I don't know if this is a dream or not... I was just weeping in the afterlife... My spirit wasn't at peace there. The gods took my tears as penance and gave me another life. If the dead didn't belong amongst the living, I could return with life. Yugi...I came back to you."

Yugi fell to his knees with Yami following him. The loud sobs and tears were free flowing, the two young men carried a death grip on the others arms.

"I don't understand how...won't you just leave again? I could barely deal with it the first time, Atem...you were a dead Egyptian pharaoh and you were my best friend! I didn't know how to deal with that...I couldn't stand the thought of just trying to forget you and...

The Pharaoh kept a grip on Yugi's hand and started to wipe away his tears while smiling.

"I'm here to stay, Yugi. I realize my mistake in leaving my real family here. I'm sorry Yugi, I'm sorry to you and grandpa, and Anzu and Joey...Tristan...even Seto and Mokuba Kaiba. I didn't realize how much you all meant to me, and I to you...until it was too late. I cried and wept and suffered and felt exactly the same way you do Yugi. Our bond could not be broken, by time or death."

Grandpa stood by, sniffling into a handkerchief and handed it off to Yugi. "Pharaoh, friend, things have always been a little more empty without you. None of us have forgotten about our time in Egypt, the adventure we took with you to the past..."

Atem smiled and continued to embrace Yugi, who was desperately wiping tears and saliva and music from his face with grandpa's handkerchief. The three began to laugh together, Atem's earrings and jewelry tinkering as the joy of laughter rolled through his body. The two young men sat still in the doorway, arms wrapped around each other in a desperate attempt to close all the holes, hurt and pain they had experienced in each others absence.

Grandpa smiled and hobbled off to the kitchen to make dinner while the two brothers reminisced about their years apart.


	3. Chapter 3

Atem sat in the small familiar apartment behind the game shop, taking in each deep breath of the cozy, warm air. The low sun in the sky, the dust on the shelves, the sounds of Yugi shuffling through the kitchen and clatter of utensils, the smell of Tonkatsu broth in the air gave him such peace. More peace than his soul ever thought possible.

The king Atem never imagined this is how he would spend his true mortal life. The day he was coronated was one filled with anxiety and fear, not like this. His heart was overflowing with happiness and peace, and the smile on his face reflected it.

The small family sat around the dinner table together for the first time, with nothing but smiles and old memories being passed around. Yugi was beyond excited to share this new life with his best friend, to graciously introduce him to modern convenience and all the wonderful things this life had to offer.

A few laughs were shared as Atem attempted to learn the use of chopsticks at his first meal in five thousand years. They concluded the evening by cleaning the dishes together, and Atem being able to enjoy a hot shower. His kilt, robe and jewelry stuffed into a drawer and replaced with a t-shirt and flannel pajamas, the yami sought out his new living space that he shared with Yugi.

Atem shut the door behind him and found Yugi at his desk on a laptop. Yugi turned around and smiled, finding the uniqueness of the situation amusing, the two boys were finally alone, in separate bodies, to discuss their thoughts.

"Yugi, are you sure it's alright if I live here, with you and grandpa?" Atem sat down and appreciated the warm bedding beneath him. Yugi removed his glasses and wandered over to his own bed and fell backwards onto it.

"Atem, the five years you and I shared the puzzle...I never stopped dreaming of the idea that you were able to have your own life and could share it with us like you are right now. I always imagined we were brothers, lifelong friends who would never be separated. My biggest fear is losing you again."

Atem looked puzzled and a thought came to him.

"I haven't dared ask yet Yugi, but how long have I been gone?"

Yugi's mind was flooded with the same feelings of loneliness he had experienced since that day in Egypt...

"It's been three years, Atem. I'm twenty-one, now."

The realization hit Atem like bricks. Literal years had passed since that day...

"Three years shouldn't seem like long... Mortality hasn't been on my mind in a long time you know... I wish I had listened to my heart, aibou. I did what I thought was right and what I should do. From the moment we separated and began to duel, I felt the emptiness and begged the gods not to force me to deal with it."

The two felt gray area between them for the first time in a long time.

"I'm...sorry Yugi. It took that separation for me to understand what I really needed. I'm blessed...I'm so lucky that I was allowed to come back and try this again. It's not like I had a very long life the first time to begin with."

Atem looked down at his hands, clenching them and trying to inhale the truest feeling of being alive. His soul spent so long literally locked in iron bars, being choked on loss, emptiness and feeling worthless. A soul, a literal lost soul who had everything taken from him. Everything except the trust of a friend... Yugi. The other half of his soul...and the only person willing to give him a chance.

"This time... it'll be different. No matter what you did, what we did, we overcame whatever life threw at us. Even if there is something wacky and mystical waiting for us, we've got this."

Atem rubbed his temples and took a deep breath. He looked to his right, where Yugi had a tall mirror and saw his reflection, and a small picture in the corner of the mirror caught his eye. He stood up, snatched the photo from the corner of the mirror and stared at it, with a strange feeling wash over him.

"Atem? Uh...are you okay?"

The Pharaoh again had tears in his eyes as he held the picture up to Yugi and pointed to the familiar face standing behind Yugi and Anzu.

"Do you know her, Yugi? This girl?"

Atem hadn't seen her face in thousands of years, but it was burned into his mind like he had hugged her and told her goodbye just yesterday. "

Yugi looked at the picture and pointed out the person in question.

"Her? Anzu's friend? I think her name is..."

"Aura. Her name is Aura, Yugi. I know... I know... she wasn't in the afterlife with me because she is here, in this picture... with you."


	4. Chapter 4

Atem sobbed openly again for a moment, and this time he wasn't sure if it was regret or happiness.

"...Atem...what... I don't understand! What's wrong?

"Yugi, my unfinished business was not just with you...one of the only reasons I felt drawn to the afterlife was to see someone I had made a promise to in my first life, a promise I miserably failed to keep. Aura...gods it's been so long...she...she was my younger sister."

"Atem, I know you couldn't remember a lot of this... but you never ever told me about your family... and now you're telling me your little sister is in this picture with me and Anzu?! She was reincarnated into this life somehow?!"

The pharaoh clutched the photo in his hands, letting the last few tears roll down his cheeks and feeling the strong arms of Yugi wrap around his neck again. Atem tucked the picture away under his pillow and crawled under the covers for the night.

He stared out at the stars through Yugi's window and felt his heart go numb. Yugi didn't talk to him the rest of the night, and despite all of his joy today, there was this last thing leaving a thorn in his heart.

* * *

The next morning was a slow, sleepy one as Seto rose promptly at his alarm clock. There wasn't anything exceptionally important to finish today. He might even be able to pull off a ten hour day or less at the office.

Mokuba was up for school. Roland had the car pulled around already. A plain black suit without a jacket would do for today if nobody important came to visit. Forget the tie, to.

"Fuck it, who cares?"

The house server had a piece of flat bread and a strong espresso ready for him at the door. He snatched his keys and left for the office, and being caught almost immediately at every red light in the city. There was a lot of curse words to be had.

The last light before KaibaCorp Blvd was a busy intersection. It was raining. Cloudy. It was blah. Seto slipped a pack of cigarettes out of the glove box and cracked the window. He noticed the group of people waiting at the crosswalk. Several older people. One or two of his office employees that worked on the second floor. His personal office assistant texting on her phone.

His phone blipped, and sure enough. He had received the text message she was just typing before the light even turned green. He rolled his window all the way down, honked the horn of the car once, and held his phone up so she could see it.

"Aura, get in. Now."

Aura knew better than to keep him waiting. While the crowd gawked, Aura slipped between the braked cars and into the passenger side of the blue Maserati.

"Thanks, Seto. The rain is depressing and cold today...ugh"

"Sure. I was worried about you being late. Have you had your coffee already today?"

"One, want me to order some for us to be waiting at the office?"

"Yes, now preferably."

That was the extent of their conversation for the next half hour. Aura had somehow weaseled her way into Seto's life from being his barista multiple times, hired into lobby secretary, data entry on the fifth floor, then eventually his personal assistant. She was a hard worker, but she was eccentric, and Seto always had an eyebrow to raise at her strangeness.

But he trusted her, mostly. That was more than he could say for most people.

Modern-day-Incarnation Aura had her Pharaoh brother's crimson-purple eyes. Her skin was a milk white and had a lot of Atem's sharp features. Lifetimes later, the two had still managed to greatly resemble each other. Her hair, pitch black and straight reminded Seto a lot of those old Japanese paintings with ghostly geishas.

Seto's attitude didn't seem to faze Aura. She wasn't 'spunky' or feisty, which most people were when they tried to combat Seto Kaiba's attitude. No, she was just...apathetic. Quiet. She had enough mental instability of her own to try and deal with his at work.

He had been decent lately though.

But when he was destined to run into a pair of twin tri-color haired duelists, that would change.

For the moment though, things were normal. Aura hadn't heard from -the- ex boyfriend. Her parents hadn't called her in months and she hadn't failed any of her courses at university. No reason for a breakdown yet. Dealing with Seto Kaiba was the easiest feat she had accomplished since coming to Japan a year ago...by far.

Mokuba had pushed Seto to trust Aura and let her work with him in the office. She had even acted as Mokuba's guardian at times. He was 14 now, and didn't need anywhere near as much supervision, but he liked Aura, and for some reason just knew she and Seto would be friends.

Besides, Aura was different. She was far more tame and down to earth than the girls he went to school with. She had a lot of colorful tattoos. She listened to Marilyn Manson... so Mokuba liked her... a lot. She loved the ancient Egyptology that Yugi and his friends were into, thus she had developed a friendship with Yugi and Anzu and Joey.

But she always showed up to work in some various shiny black garb, covered in zippers and pyramid studs. Her high heels had been known to have vampire fangs, chains and other strange things, but Seto tended to just ignore it.

"I'll be the best employee in your office, and you won't bitch about me being weird. I'm okay with that. You'll learn to appreciate it like your brother, Mr. Kaiba."  
This was their bargain, and so far they had each held up their end of the deal.

Today was Aura's birthday, and she hadn't even given the slightest hint to Seto, and she didn't intend to. It was just going to be another work day...

A little box waited on her desk when they arrived at the office. Inside were a pair of yellow, blue and pink sapphire earrings that made her reminisce of the Dark Magician Girl. A card with 'xoxo, your lil bro Mokie. Happy Birthday"

As she reached in the box to add the earrings to the four already in each ear, she had texted Mokuba back to tell him thank you, and ask how he had managed to figure it out.

Seto had definitely noticed his brother's antics, and didn't like it. Not because he had spent money on a friend for her birthday, but because he didn't like to be outdone or made to look like he was selfish or uptight (not that he didn't come off that way anyways)

Aura smiled softly at the welcoming text back from Mokuba and sat down to work. Things were getting better by the day here, and she had no complaints. She hadn't had one of her angry 'outbursts' in a long, long time.

Life had been on the upswing since she moved to Domino City. Originally from a lower-middle class American family, Aura had desperately sought a way out of her life and the awful things she left behind. A study abroad program turned into a permanent living situation. Her after school job had turned into meeting Seto and his brother.

Somehow, everything felt right so far. The rain pattered on the windows of the high-story office, and Aura sipped away at her coffee, engrossed in her computer.

Seto sat behind her at his desk, feeling a little confused and quickly texting Roland to have him get to the luxury Ginza district and get back to him before Aura left the office at 4.

And so the wheels of fate began turning...


	5. Chapter 5

The two Motou boys slept through the soft rain that night, with Atem tossing and turning, waking up repeatedly and falling back asleep to some unknown nightmare. Adjusting to the physical limitations of this body was going to take a while for the pharaoh.

The alarm clock beeped at nine AM sharp. It beeped for a good ten or fifteen seconds before Yugi rolled over and smashed the button on the top, sitting up sharply and looking towards Atem's futon on the floor. He sighed with relief, knowing the return of his friend wasn't just a dream.

Atem finally stirred and slowly sat up and looked at Yugi, and seemed to have the same sense of relief. The nightmares were over, and he was still somewhere safe and peaceful, in Yugi's house.

The two had a quiet breakfast and cleaned the shop together before Grandpa opened it for the day, taking the time to discuss Atem's back story.

"I think it's safe to say you'll use our surname, Atem. I would imagine, by some magic if anyone were to DNA or blood test you, it would tell the world exactly what we did, that you're a Mutou son." Grandpa smiled and thanked them for the help with the shop as they went back to dress for the day.

If anyone asked, Atem was Yugi's older brother. It seemed fitting for their relationship. Atem smiled at the sentiment, but stayed unusually quiet for an Egyptian king who had just returned to a privileged life.

"I need to run a couple of errands today, aibou. Do you want to come with me?" Yugi extended a hand to the seemingly downtrodden Egyptian. He was going to make things okay, and be there for his friend like Atem had been there for him in times past.

"Look...Yami. I'm sorry for last night. I know there must still be a lot of loose ends you want to tie up. That's why you came back, right? You can talk about it when you're ready to. Until then, I want you to be happy here. You were miserable in the afterlife and I want you to be happy here. You don't know how much you're cared for...you don't know how much life you have to look forward to."

This eased a lot of the anxiety in Atem's heart. He accepted Yugi's embrace again and started to smile again.

"...I understand Yugi...and I'm so grateful for that. I need this chance at living again and I''m going to make sure I don't waste it. I am concerned...upset about the situation with Aura. If fate decides we should be reunited then it will be so. Until then, I'm just going to live, Yugi. I want to live as though I would have to leave you again."

Atem, still fearing there would be some darkness they would have to face together, knew he wasn't going to be alone.

This was an acceptable answer for the younger Motou, so they dressed for the day and Atem followed Yugi to his bright blue sedan. A lesson in seat belt instruction later, Atem took a deep breath and readied himself for all the modern day issues he would have to deal with and understand. Yugi pulled a thin metal device from his pocket and plugged into the car. A little tampering with the radio and other buttons, and the music he picked out was playing through the car radio.

"Yugi the music in this time confuses me. Some of the men sound like women!"

Some laughter followed, and the day had already taken a turn for the better. Yugi played with his phone for a few minutes, obviously sending a text message but confusing his yami.

"So, does this mean I'll have to carry one of those.. mobile...phones with me? Like the one Anzu had?"

"I would feel better if you had a phone. You know how hectic things can get in this time, Atem. When you and I shared the puzzle, you stayed nestled away from a lot of the things I do daily...school. Working for grandpa. This time is complicated and I need to show you how to take care of yourself, almighty King Atem."

Atem pouted a little and sighed.

"Alright, aibou. I'll trust you. Except...whatever boy singer that Anzu listened to...Justin Beaver? Believer? I don't know... Whatever strange noise he makes that you all call music. I don't like it."

Yugi burst into a great fit of laughter and started his car.

"I can't wait until I tell Anzu that one. I just texted them and told them we would meet them at the mall to go shopping. You'll need some clothes, mine are...uhm..too small for you."

A stranger sitting on the bench outside their shop noticed the two boys drive off and grinned under their jacket hood. Neither of them had noticed.

It felt so good to laugh with Yugi again and Atem felt his heart beat a little more anxiously at the thought of being able to see his friends again. He would be able to embrace them all himself and he was sure Anzu would freak out and cry.

"Atem, I should probably tell you to...Anzu..uh...we kinda..."

"They would call it courting in my time, but I'm guessing she finally admitted to being in love with you, right?" Now Yugi blushed a little.

"Right. I guess so. It wasn't terribly long after you left us last time Yami. When we finished high school she asked me to go out with her once and we talked about it. I had a crush on her for a long time to...I'm sure you remember that."

"I'm happy for you Yugi. Love wasn't something I got the luxury of in my time. I was too busy, and my life was just too short..."

Yugi shook his head.

"Don't worry yami. I'm sure it won't be hard to find a girl who will fall for that Egyptian tan of yours."

Atem smirked and leaned back in his seat. Maybe living in this time wouldn't be so weird.

Yugi sang along to the radio loudly and the two brothers had the most wonderful beginning to the rest of their lives. A few miles and shopping mall parking lot later, Yugi texted Anzu to tell her he had a big surprise for her.

Joey was standing outside with a cigarette and laughing with Tristan and Serenity. Yugi took care to park far away from the door and make his arrival unnoticed. Anzu and Serenity were standing just inside the door talking excitedly. Yugi snuck up on Joey and tapped him gently. When Joey turned around and yelled "YUUUUGGG!"... He made sure to leave Atem the one standing there instead.

"Yugi whats up...ma...Ma..ma...ma...YUGI? And Yugi? That means...you..."

Joey pointed at the tall, dark and tan Yugi and burst into excited tears.

"ATEM! YOU CAME BACK BUDDY!" Joey latched onto his friend in a typical Joey-smother-hug and Tristan followed by squeeing loudly and squeezing them both. Yugi laughed heartily and turned around to wave at Anzu and Serenity. The two girls bolted to see the excitement, and before a moment had passed, Atem was absolutely smothered in happy tears and hugs from four different people.

Since the day he was crowned King of Egypt, Atem Aknamkanon had never felt this loved in his life.

He broke away from the mass of bro hugs and noticed a shaking Anzu standing in front of him. Her face was red, her makeup running down her face.

"Ya..yami...pharaoh, Atem...oh it can't really be you can it? You...you left us!"

Atem hung his head for a moment and listened to Anzu's sobs.

"I am so sorry for that mistake, Anzu. Please, forgive me?" He stretched out his arms and was answered by a near tackle from her. She buried her face in his chest and Atem stroked her hair gently.

"Y..yoouuu came back! I can't believe you came back. Oh Yami!" He held her tightly and smiled at the great amount of affection he had missed out on in the past few years.

"I'm here now, Anzu...and I'm not leaving you again until this body dies."

The passer-bys smiled at the group of friends that had been reunited after some unknown amount of time. Even the rain had stopped, the sun started to shine and Atem had never felt more confident in his decision to come back to this time.

The group had lunch together, and started to shuffle from store to store, forcing Atem into various dressing rooms as Anzu critiqued every store's inventory and chose hundreds of dollars worth of clothes for their friend. Tristan and Joey kept making trips to the car to load up their bags between each store, and Atem felt quite uncomfortable.

"Yugi...er..I...well...I don't earn any money in this time. We'll I've never really worked for money like you do in this time...how will I ever pay you back?"

Yugi played with his phone for a moment and pulled up his bank account records. He showed the number to Yami and saw the confusion deepen.

"Yami, Joey nor I have had to work since you left. You earned so much money by winning those tournaments while you were here that Joey and I got invited to several more. We're not the billionaires that Kaiba is, but he compensates us for using our names and duel decks in his video games. As long as we don't go overboard and buy a bunch of houses and cars, we're pretty set, Aibou. All thanks to you."

"Actually you guys. I say we throw a huge shebang. We'll celebrate Atem coming home to us!" This Saturday night! We'll even invite Kaiba and his hot assistant girl."

"I am SO down for this idea, it'll be way more fun than just the typical parties at tournaments and conventions that we usually go to." Tristan looked gleeful at the idea of having their own open bar and dance floor.

"Think of your coronation party when you became king, Atem. Something along those lines, just...you know...a lot less sand." Joey smiled and Atem raised an eyebrow at his humor.

"I don't really consider myself worthy my friends. I am just a man now, as I ever was, and it is too kind of you to welcome me back into your lives like this. I am really not worthy of celebration..."

"Humble are we Mr. Pharaoh? Don't sweat it. Find something sexy to wear to attract the ladies, as I will definitely do so for Kaiba's sexy assistant lady." Joey boasted and flexed his muscles.

"You know Joey, she works for Kaiba. She probably has a lot better options than a ditzy blonde like you are." Anzu interjected and immediately went back to her text messaging, which was likely to said assistant. "Aura likes you guys well enough, but..I got the King of Games on my arm and the next best available bachelor is Kaiba himself. If I were her and single..."

Atem looked like he was going to be sick to his stomach suddenly and Yugi pulled him aside.

"..er...I didn't tell you she was Kaiba's assistant at work did I? Do you want me to make sure she doesn't come around? I'm sure Anzu would understand..."

"No...no don't worry about it. Just let it be. If she is your friend, I will have to meet her eventually. I'll deal with it when the time comes, Yugi."

The group dispersed for the afternoon with Yugi and Atem returning home. Yugi started digging through his closet and the bags upon bags of clothes they had purchased earlier.

"Yugi...I'm happy to see you so sociable and in love now. My greatest wish was for you to find confidence in yourself."

"...and I owe a lot of that to you Atem. You helped me become that person, you know? The parties and traveling is pretty awesome. I won't lie, but besides having Anzu with me now, the best time to me was just spending time and going on adventures with you and our friends... However. Joey has been known to be the party animal. I won't be surprised if this is the biggest deal Domino City has seen in a while."

"and in my honor? Yugi? I understand the worth of festivities, but I don't know what you all mean by a 'party' in this time. What if someone who means us harm shows up?"

"Well there are always unsavory people in the world Atem. Didn't the Egyptian goddess tell us we had defeated all that nonsense though? I wouldn't worry about it too much...and now that I think about it. We might just have to go shopping again. I can't think of anything Anzu would let me wear to a party..."

The smiles returned to their faces, and they decided to take it easy for the next couple of days while they waited news of this gigantic welcome home party.


	6. Chapter 6

"Seto, I've got an email from Yugi and Joey's manager. Forward it later or read it now?"

"Just read it. What does the twerp want now?"

Seto hadn't heard anything out of Yugi or his geek squad in a while. They had all met at a tournament in Greece a couple of months ago and Joey and Tristan had gotten really drunk at the after party and lost some of their rarest cards in the mess. They spent hundreds of dollars having them replaced and the somewhat humiliating memories of dragging drunk friends back to their hotel rooms.

"Right, it's requesting some of their KaibaCorp promotional money to throw an event, some kind of party..."

"How much of the funding do they want?"

"Uh...they're requesting half the budget."

Seto spun around in his chair and raised an eyebrow.

"Half the sponsorship budget their allotted? What makes them so special?"

She skimmed down the email...blah blah blah...

"Uhm,..it says they welcomed home an old friend who had been out of the dueling scene since your Battle City tournament, and want KaibaCorp to pick him up as a team member on their sponsorship roster...sooooo...party. Yeah. They want to throw a party to celebrate is what I'm getting.."

He gripped his chair and tensed.

"They could be talking about the Valentine whore but that would be ridiculous. They couldn't mean all that nonsense about the Egyptian..."

"Egyptian, huh? Well it says he returned from a couple year long trip to Egypt a few days ago. You know him, I guess?"

"I don't fucking believe it. Are you fucking kidding me? All that mystical Egyptian bullshit ended years ago and supposedly he's back?! I need to see this shit for myself.""

Aura was now the one giving her boss the look of insanity.

"Well are you going to approve it or not?

Seto stood up and stormed out of the office to find Mokuba.

"Aura, just sign it your own damn self! It's not like I hired you to just sit there and be pretty. Tell them to throw in another quarter of my budget to, goddamn it."

She turned back around a little stunned...but it turned into a generous grin.

"Well fine. He trusts me that much, does he? I guess he won't mind if I throw in a personal commission to get ready for said party on the invoice."

Seto took his personal elevator straight down to the first floor and stepped outside to have a cigarette. Usually he wouldn't dare want an employee, or anyone else for that matter, see him smoking, but right how he didn't give a damn.

Roland pulled up at the most opportune moment, letting Mokuba out of the car.

"So, you heard about the party, did you Seto? I stopped by the Kame Game Shop right after school and Joey had already faxed over the rough invites. They look so cool, big brother!"

Joey had gone a little overboard with his duel monster-esque foiled out invitations. This was going to be ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.

Mokuba skipped happily inside and left Roland to gently chastise the CEO about smoking and his health. Seto half smirked, asking him if he had finished the errand he requested. They made a quick exchange, the small box being dropped into Seto's pocket. He thanked his old friend and returned to the office to try and comprehend what was going on.

Aura was printing signing various contracts that had been attached to the email. She stapled it and looked at Seto as though she felt sorry for him.

"You seem unusually angry about some old duel monsters player coming back from Egypt, did he beat you or something?"

He gave her the glare of death.

"If Yugi or his little Egyptian friend thinks they are going to out-do me, in anything, ever again, I will promptly stop them into the ground and piss on them."

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Well Seto, just let me know if there is anything I can do to make you less angry."

He tapped her shoulder one more time and she turned to face him, but instead, had a small white box in her face, held out at a distance as Seto desperately tried to half-turn away.

"Consider this a late birthday. Maybe you could wear it to this...whatever this is that the dweeb is throwing. I'm sure you added something to that first company invoice for a dress, so whatever. I just expect you to be ready to be picked up an hour before the invitation says to arrive."

She opened the box to a massive pendant of a single cherry blossom, done in pave` white and pink diamonds. This thing easily cost six or seven digits, much like her earrings, and Aura was so beyond shocked she didn't know how to reply.

"I...uh...wow. Just...wow. Thank you, Seto. This is beyond kinder and nicer than anything else anyone has tried to do for me on my birthday. How did you know...?"

He shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Just make sure to wear something appropriate with it whenever this..party is...next Saturday or something I'm assuming."

"Hmm. Is this a date, then, "

He threw up his arms in disgust and defeat.

"Sure, whatever!"

She smiled, thanked him again softly for the gift and turned off her computer.

"I'm looking forward to it, Seto."

A stranger watched Aura walk away from the KaibaCorp complex and followed her for a half mile or so. He knew which direction she lived in. It wouldn't be hard to figure out exactly where he could find her.

The stranger smiled when he saw the flier taped to the telephone pole about the celebration on Saturday.

She was still so beautiful, even thousands of years later. So powerful, so lustful. This time...this time...it would be different. She belonged with someone who could control her power and appreciate that beauty.

He'd introduce himself Saturday...and this time the Pharaoh and Priest weren't going to get in the way.


	7. Chapter 7

The sun peeked through the blinds on Saturday morning and Atem felt the warmth on his face. He slowly came to consciousness...the birds chirping and wind making a gentle shuffle through the trees.

Since he had come 'home'...things had been wonderful. Grandpa had sat him down for a grandfather to grandson talk. Atem had learned all about Yugi's family and past. How proud he was of his grandon's expeditions and the quiet peace they had settled into, even after Yugi's father left and his mother became ill.

Yugi's phone went off, stirring him from sleep and the tired hand reached aimlessly for the loud obnoxious beeping. He dragged the phone back to him and stared at the screen.

"Anzu is already at the hairdresser. Geez, this is going to be a long day."

He sat up and tossed a pillow at his 'brother'. Atem turned over and tossed his wallet at Yugi's head.

"The day only lasts as long as the sun, Yugi. "

"Yeah, well. You'll be up long after the sun goes down today, aibou. I imagine we'll get in and finally get to pass out when the sun comes up tomorrow."

Atem looked at his phone and saw the bright numbers that read 8:56 AM. He moaned and turned over in his bed, pulling the blankets over his face.

Yugi laughed and proceeded to text his girlfriend back.

"You might need multiple espressos today to stay awake. I'll have to make sure you don't drink too much tonight and get hammered."

Atem sat up, stretched and yawned. "Hammered, Yugi? Is that another one of your slang words I don't understand?"

The hikari shook his head.

"Wine, Atem. I'm sure you know what it means to be drunk with wine."

"Oh yeah...I'm guessing that's what all the young people waste their time doing these days."

"Atem...you can't even begin to fathom the kind of drunk people can get."

Yugi stretched out and went for the clothes hanging up on the door.

"Come on, Pharaoh of Egypt. We need to make you look snazzy, Anzu picked this out because you're a lot more muscular than the rest of us and can pull this off."

He tossed him a pair of shiny black leather pants and a dark undershirt. Atem recognized this style, being similar to what Yugi would wear in high school. Yugi pulled a black and gold trim leather vest and went for the drawer with Atem's Egyptian robes and jewelry. The next few minutes involved Atem feeling uncomfortable as Yugi finished dressing him and fitting gold cuffs onto his ears and wrists.

"Is all this really necessary Yugi?"

"I mean, it's really not, honestly, but we are all so happy to have you back, and Joey looks for any excuse to party. You just might enjoy it, Atem. You never know, you could end up with even more fangirls than Kaiba or something.

"Fangirls?"

"...maybe we should do a crash course on them in the car. We've got a little while before we have to be anywhere important, so we'll just hangout at the coffee shop."

Grandpa waved his boys goodbye and told them too be careful of the ladies. Yugi's Elantra was sitting outside of the game shop as usual, but today Yugi went for the garage around back..

"Today's special and about you, Atem. So I guess you get to ride in the shiny car."

A sparkling blue Mercedes rolled around and Yugi gleamed as he motioned for his brother to get in. This had been his present to himself after the last tournament.

Atem slipped in the passenger and saw Yugi holding out a pair of shiny black sunglasses.

"Gods, what I would have given to have these back in Egypt." He put them on and smiled at Yugi, who turned his bass as loud as it would go and hit the gas. The smile changed to a look of terror.

Aura had little time for herself lately. Between staying up all night doing homework for university and spending all day at KaibaCorp with her boss, she never got the chance to sit and relax. Didn't get a chance to really look forward to the future or plan for something fun.

"I wonder what made Seto cross that line...he halfway trusts me and then shoves jewelry in my face that's worth more than a 10 year lease on my apartment... It's so unlike him."

She shook her head and shrugged it off.

It wouldn't have upset her if he kept up this behavior though.

"_I'll never tell him how happy it makes him to see those blue eyes every morning..."_

Aura had always wondered why she felt more at home here than she had in her own family. She had issues, serious issues at times. Her family had never supported her. The first time she had one of her 'incidents' where her mom walked in and found her room with holes in the walls and a giant black hole in the floor, they had immediately had her institutionalized and left her there for months.

She sat in front of the mirror, her camisole and sleep shorts were the only thing worth being adorned at this hour on a Saturday. She brushed her long black hair, wondering what her strange vivid dreams had been about lately.

She could have swore they were some cross between her student ambassador program to Egypt. But Yugi was there. So was her boss. They were dressed as some kind of Egyptian royalty. Was this a case of her former fantasy to see them both in cosplay?

But there was always someone chasing her. Someone screaming her name. She kept running and running but the shadow kept following her. The sand and dust blinded her and her feet slipped underneath her.

As all suddenly seemed lost, the shadow was overshadowed itself. There was someone else there. Somebody? There were always two people standing over her fending off the shadow.

And it was always Yugi and Seto. This, she would never understand. Especially since she had this dream long before she had met either man.

Her trip to Egypt had inspired her to have a beautiful piece of artwork across her leg of the eye of Wad jet. She had sketched a lot of the beautiful Egyptian symbols and had them added to her tattoo over time. Her back featured a giant mural of a cherry blossom tree, withering in the summer and with the kanji that spelled her mantra intertwined between the branches.

The Darkness will never take us, the light of hope will always save us.

She always remembered that, even when her own darkness threatened to destroy her.


	8. Chapter 8

Seto was standing at the window in his bedroom thinking about two people. The two people that had made the biggest impact on him in all his life.

Atem had just been a figment of his imagination, he had convinced himself of that for so long. Yet, he became something to blame for his failures. Kaiba had always tried blaming his failures on Atem. His shortcomings as a person, as a friend and a duelist.

Then he watched the two Yugi twins duel and knew that his blame was at least well placed. It was no excuse, but after being drug back to ancient Egypt, he couldn't deny it anymore.

Every last bit of it had been true, all the destiny bullshit and all. He didn't have to accept it so readily though. He could still deny it openly all he wanted.

Then he met her.

From the first time he laid eyes on her in that coffee shop, all the 'destiny' bullshit came rushing back to him. He didn't know why. He didn't want to know why.

She kept popping up everywhere. Standing at the crosswalk in the mornings. At the cafe when he was out with Mokuba. She contributed an article to the local paper and Seto realized he couldn't get away from her.

He had never admitted before to a woman being beautiful, except for Kisara. As far as he was concerned Kisara was a figure of his imagination until he met her too, at a duel monsters tournament.

Aura was so strange, so out of left field and Kaiba hadn't been able to get her out of his head since he laid eyes on her.

She seemed to trust him, she didn't flinch when he lost his temper. She didn't judge him like everyone else did. She never called him arrogant, mean, stubborn...She just accepted him for who he was.

"That...must be difficult for her to deal with."

He had never admitted to himself what a jerk he had been his whole life. Atem's adventures had helped melt some of the ice around his heart and helped him open up to the world.

"I guess I'll have to thank the old bastard later."

Atem and Yugi sat in the corner of the coffee shop ignoring the stares of the general populous. Yugi was basically a celebrity and tried his best to ignore the staring and mobbing he got in public, with his new 'twin' with him...it might deter it a little.

The Pharaoh looked uncomfortable in his own skin as a group of high school girls behind him giggled and talked about the 'tall, dark and handsome Yugi".

"I'll have to keep you in the loop about duel monsters tournaments. I'm sure you'll be more famous than Joey or myself honestly. I mean, it was you after all that did the work in the first place. You had to use my name, but it was all you, Atem."

He smiled at the thought of being able to play a game of duel monsters again. It felt like it had been a lifetime since he and Yugi had taken up together in a duel.

"I'd like that. I feel like I'm not good for much else besides playing duel monsters."

"So you forgot how good you are at saving the world and being a king, eh? You are literally legendary, aibou...and I'm you're incarnation. I should be the one who is humbled."

Yugi's text alert went off, and he went to read the message. His face looked rather surprised and unsure when he put the phone back down.

"It's Aura. She asked me what time we'll be showing up tonight."

Atem groaned and covered his face.

"Yugi. Seeing her again is likely to make me go crazy with guilt. I understand she's not exactly the same as she was then...I just feel so...awful when I think about it. There's no way I'll ever be able to tell her the truth, much less try and get this weight off my shoulders by reforging the promise I made her."

"Atem, you must know her better than any of us. You are her brother. If not by blood then by spirit, just like we are. I would bet, that if meeting you unlocked the bond between us, then when you get a chance to talk to her there will be someway you can do the same."

"I...I hope so. Although, it's unlocking her soul and awakening those memories that I fear. She is not just my sister Yugi, she is dangerous. The monster hidden in her soul is only rivaled by the blue eyes white dragon and the Egyptian gods themselves."

Yugi's eyes widened and he nodded in understanding.

"It is one thing to feel the responsibility of protecting someone, especially your younger sibling. I feel for you as I do for her, but I know your soul isn't tainted. My sister's was. It took the high priests constant presence to quell the darkness and allow her to live her life normally. There was always that chance though, that the darkness would come back and she would unleash it on the people."

"I'm sure you protected her though! Like you said you and your high priest helped her, didn't you? Why would she turn on you like that?"

"She couldn't always control it. Her ka was so powerful it made her mentally unstable. My father had her locked away in a healing temple most of her life, and I was the only one allowed to see her for a long time. We were very close and when I became king, I took her into the palace to live with me. She was a lot happier there. She even fell in love with someone and was happy. She was my best friend and she was the last person I thought about in life. I felt like I failed to protect her and she had made me promise to never leave her side. I sacrificed my life without any thought as to leaving her behind. Seto was the last person I saw, he clutched my body as I slipped into the next world and sealed my soul away into the millennium puzzle. He kept reminding me of her, kept telling me to keep her in my heart."

He was looking at the table, his heart aching a little from the memory. He looked up and Yugi was clicking away at his phone.

"I told her we would definitely meet up with her later. She's Kaiba's date."

The sickening feeling returned.

"I understand how Joey feels about Tristan and Serenity now."

"You know, looking at her facebook pictures, I definitely see how much you two look alike. It's kind of unreal. She's the chick version of us, you know. She's just missing the random streaks of blonde."

"Her hair is pitch black with a red hue to it in the light."

"It's kind of creepy that you remember details like that but not your own name for five thousand years."

"Do you know how many times another king, queen or various person would talk about her like that in front of me? And now...Joey and Tristan...ugh."

Yugi smiled and assured his friend that things would be okay. They ordered another set of drinks to go and left to meet Joey at the KaibaCorp building. They needed to sign their vendor contracts for tonight...and then in a few hours. It was time to celebrate.


	9. Chapter 9

Aura dug through the giant leather handbag on her desk for the particular tube of mascara she was missing. Seto had texted her and offered to have a car come for her, she accepted and was spending the last few minutes at home perfecting the thick lines of eyeliner and mascara around her eyes.

She had slipped into a little black number with silver fringe and strappy high heeled black sandals. The necklace Seto had given her matched her usual five or six black studs and silver cuffs in her ears. She had a silver nose stud and a sternum barbell. She was definitely not the typical office assistant, and she was grateful Seto and Mokuba accepted her for that.

They didn't judge her strangeness. They didn't mind her quiet temper. She never seemed to bother them, and that was something she was most thankful for. Yugi and Anzu and Joey had also been lifesavers of her sanity. They welcomed her with absolute open arms.

She plucked at her eyebrows and touched up her lipstick as she heard the car pull up. She looked up in the mirror one more time, content with her appearance, and noticing the pictures she had taped in the corner. One of her standing in front of the Great Pyramid, another of her, Anzu, and Yugi at the photo booth outside the movies. She smiled and and realized that in high school, going out like this would have freaked her out.

Things were okay now. Somehow she felt like her two guardians in her dreams were with her.

The blue Ferrari was surprisingly not driven by Roland, but by Seto himself. Aura smirked as she slid into the low car and was surprised that he had music on and a cigarette in hand.

"What a pleasant surprise, Seto."

He didn't answer but instead just glared. His glare softened as he saw the necklace around her neck.

She looked really nice...the jewelry complimented her well.

Then he realized those thoughts shouldn't be his, and flicked the cigarette out the window as he pulled away from her apartment.

The Motou brothers and Joey had lunch together that afternoon and were back at Joey's place, waiting on him to decide how to dress himself to impress the ladies.

"Ya know, Yugi, some of us don't have sexy twin alter-egos to be our wing man. I mean, you've already got Anzu and all and she's not bad to look at...but man it get's lonely being a sexy bachelor. You know what that's like, Atem?"

The pharaoh's cheeks flushed a little red. He had been lonely a lot longer than Joey had.

"Man...I have a feeling I'm going to be passed out all day tomorrow. This is gonna be a night to remember! Half the city got an invite, I can't wait to see how many people show up and party with us. You know...Yug, you and Mr. Pharaoh are going to the city charms tonight. I am so freakin' happy man. It's a damn shame it took this long for us to all be reunited like this."

Joey buttoned up his shirt and rolled up his sleeves, giving himself a thumbs up in the mirror.

"I'm gonna go ahead and go down to the convention center and make sure the DJs get setup alright. Head that way in about an hour, okay Yug?" He ruffled Yugi's hair as he strutted out the door, Atem sitting on the couch looking amused at all the music and movie paraphernalia around Joey's house.

"It's strange to think, Yugi, that you're determined to make me as well known as I was five thousand years ago. That's got to be a record, right? Two lifetime's worth of celebrity?"

Yugi grinned widely.

"Hey, at least you'll feel more at home, you know. Getting catered to and all that. Just like the royalty you are."

The KaibaCorporation Dueling Center was unrecognizable. It had been covered in thick black and white draping, the walkways lit with bright lights and a long line of people waiting outside to discover who this new celebrity would be and just how hard they could party before morning.

The sun was setting, and with the passing minutes, cars, limos and various peoples arrived as the set-up crew finished up the last touches and disappeared behind the curtains.

Yugi attempted to warn Atem of his impending situation. Expensive, high profile parties were not something the pharaoh was unfamiliar with, but definitely not in this context.

This party, after all, was in Atem's honor. That was a familiar concept, but without all the dubstep music and thousands of dollars worth of alcohol.

Yugi pulled his car in front of the building and watched with amusement as his friend's jaw dropped to the giant "WELCOME BACK" sign in lights across the building's billboard sign. There were hundreds of people, if not several thousand already grouped around the front gate. Yugi rolled the windows down and waved, eliciting a loud roar of screams and shouts and waves back from the crowd.

The valet took their car, and the two were escorted down a white carpet through the crowd into the building. Joey was waving at them from a balcony and had them whisked backstage, where he was relaxing with a beer and saving his energy for the ridiculous silliness that was going to become of the evening.

From the other side of the wall, they heard the music start pouring in from the speakers. The walls started trembling with bass, and a paid assistant rushed into the room to report that the sound system was green-lit and everything else was a go.

Anzu popped in just a moment later, giving Atem a great big hug and smiling and congratulating him. She was met with a chaste kiss from Yugi.

"They just started letting people in...there's sooo many. I was shocked! It seems like the whole city and then some have turned out for this, Joey. Let's just hope it doesn't end up like that debacle in Greece a few months ago..." She glared at him and he returned with his goofy grin and embarrassed

"Eh, I told you Jager was a bad idea, didn't I?"

He slipped out the door and arranged for his great big announcement in a few minutes when all the important people arrived and he could embarrass Atem the most.

Yugi and Anzu cuddled in the corner for a minute before deciding to peek out of the window down at the festivities below. There was neon lights and well-dressed patrons as far as the eye could see.

When the crowd outside had nearly dissipated and had been let in the building, Kaiba's car also pulled around and was valeted as he held the door open for his date.

Aura was genuinely surprised that Seto had gone through this much trouble to be nice to her, when he didn't seem so genuinely excited about this shindig.

She just gave a small smile and accepted his hand, as they were whisked away inside to see Joey and one of KaibaCorp's executives standing at the stage.


	10. Chapter 10

Yugi checked the message on his phone from Joey and motioned for Atem to follow him. He grabbed Anzu's hand and they prepared for the deafening music outside the door.

Atem had absolutely no idea what to expect.

Darkness. The room was black and all the corners were dark. Atem's heart thudded loudly as he rushed to keep up with Yugi who was shuffling quickly down some stairs. The music had stopped momentarily and there were loud whispers and roars from the mass of people below. Atem kept his feet moving, his heart getting louder in his ears until he stopped suddenly, nearly running into Yugi and knocking Anzu over.

A single light came up from above the stage Atem realized he was standing at the edge of. Joey stepped forward into said light, waving and was greeted by a roar from the crowd. The screen behind him was playing a video of a duel between Kaiba and Atem during the battle city finals and the crowd was cheering wildly.

"Alright alrighttttt! Hey everybody...city of Domino how are YOU DOING TONIGHT?"

The loud roars and screams and cheers continued, a random song playing softly behind Joey's microphone.

"This was kinda last minute and all...but me and your buddy Seto Kaiba and Yugi Motou got a big surprise for ya! You enjoying this video behind me? This duel was one of the most intense I've ever watched...and before you go assuming that's Yugi Motou blasting away at Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon...it's not!"

The crowd went silent except for confused whispers.

"We're here to welcome back a dear old friend of ours who's been gone for a couple years studying in Egypt and making a name for himself. He participated in the Battle City tournament and made it all the way to the quarter-finals! You know his brother, Yugi Motou and his best friend, ME...the one and only Joey...quite well! We missed him and he's decided to come home...so Kaiba Corporation is officially welcoming him and will be sponsoring him in the upcoming Duel Monsters Eastern Region Challenge in Tokyo later this month. He's the older brother of Yugi Motou and an duelist equally as skilled...PLEASE...give a HUGE welcome to my dear friend and colleague...ATEM MOTOU and his little brother YUGI MOTOU!"

Yugi, standing next to Atem gave him a little push and the two walked out into a blinding spotlight, hearing the most deafening roar of screams and cheers yet. Atem's heart was beating so fast he swore it would stop. He stared out into a crowd that he could barely see because of the light. He looked at Yugi, desperate for something to do or say.

"Yami...just wave, just say hello..." He whispered gently as he turned and fist bumped Joey. Atem took a quick breath and waved with a smile.

"Hi, Domino City! Hello!"

Cheers and roars of screams followed. Atem felt his face flush hotly as the memory of standing in front of all of Cairo and being crowned king of Egypt came flooding back.

There were various shouts of 'Heyy sexy! Welcome to Domino!"

"You're SO FREAKIN' GORGEOUS, ATEM"

"Can I HAVE BOTH MOTOU BROTHERS FOR MYSELF?"

Joey grinned and invited the crowd to eat, drink and party like it was the last night on earth. Atem was still frozen, and as the lights went back down, a flash of rainbow neon flooded the room and he could see Seto Kaiba standing on the far side of the stage with Aura. Then his heart really did stop.

Before he could blink, the room went black and flashing lights covered them. The bass shook his very being and a screeching loud opening of a heavy techno song came over the speakers. Yugi was now standing with Joey and smiling from ear to ear as he watched the dance floor light up and the beat thump through their bodies.

Atem watched in confusion but couldn't help but smile. This was a gift to him from his friends, and he couldn't believe they felt he was worthy of the honor.

Little did they know, they had let in a stranger.


	11. Chapter 11 Part 1

Two part chapter. I'm genuinely surprised that with going on eleven chapters I've gotten hardly any feedback or traffic, but I suppose YGO is aging... and this is more for my entertainment than anything. Hope you people reading along are enjoying as well.

* * *

Joey tapped Atem on the shoulder and whispered in his ear.

"Have a drink, my friend. Dance, have a good time. I know this is probably a little weird for you but you can just let go here. Everyone is here to celebrate you."

He nodded and looked to where Kaiba and Aura were standing, they were leaving, walking up the stairs to a VIP balcony, and Atem decided to follow them.

So did the stranger.

Yugi and Anzu, having no stage fright, turned to each other and allowed the music to move them, getting close and joining in the crowd's fun.

By the time Atem had reached the balcony, Aura and Kaiba were sitting across from each other, indulging in a glass of champagne.

"Yami Yugi."

Seto had definitely noticed the pharaoh. Atem stood still and their gazes locked.

"Seto Kaiba. It's nice to finally run into you again."

He approached them and tried to ignore Aura, he focused on Kaiba.

"Yeah, Mr. Egyptian weirdo. I thought you were gone for good. What the hell happened to that? You decided to come back for that rematch?"

Atem smiled a little. He was surprised the comment was made in sarcasm and not quite spite. Maybe Kaiba had changed a little.

"I suppose I do owe you that rematch, Kaiba. Things just weren't quite what I expected when I left, and with some help I stumbled back in your life it seems like."

"I see...you uh...and Yugi aren't quite attached at the hip like you used to be."

"Right...no we aren't anymore. It took a little adjusting...but it's just me now. I'm back to try my hand at dueling again and see how I fare on my own."

Kaiba tipped his glass to Atem before downing it.

"I'm looking forward to it, Motou. It will be nice to have a challenge again."

Atem figured this was Kaiba's way of welcoming him back. Aura also downed her glass of champagne and reached out to shake Atem's hand.

"I've heard a lot about you...you're Yugi's brother right? Ah-Tem? Atem? It's nice to meet you...I'm.."

Atem took her hand and finished her sentence.

"Aura. Yes, Yugi's told me a lot about you." He kissed her knuckles and clenched his fist tightly next to him. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well. Thank you for coming tonight, you look lovely."

She beamed at him. They locked gazes for a moment as well...and there was something about him that Aura swore she had seen before. Something so familiar about him.

As she thought this, another shadow behind Atem caused him to freeze.

"Hello, Atem, Kaiba. It's been a while."

A lock of sea foam colored hair told Atem who it was immediately. He and Kaiba sprang from the sofa immediately and turned to be face to face with Dartz.

"I haven't meant to be a stranger for so long you know. I heard you were throwing a shindig in honor of our friend's return to this world and I decided to drop in and...see how you were doing myself."

Atem gritted his teeth and made a fist.

"I will end you, Dartz. If you don't leave. Now. You are not welcome here. I don't know how you got here or why, but Get. Out."

"Feisty , are we, Egyptian?"

Kaiba snarled at the man, making Aura jump back away from the group of intimidating men. Dartz simply smiled and extended a hand to Aura. She shakily accepted, and he also graced her hand with a gentle kiss.

"You must be Aura Simmons. You're lovely, just as I've heard."

"DARTZ. I thought Motou here told you to leave. This may be his party, but I'm the one throwing it and I don't recall putting you on the guest list. Get out before I toss you over this balcony."

Dartz ignored Kaiba's threat and continued fondling Aura's hands and wrists.

"You are absolutely lovely darling, just like I remember. Have you been well?"

"GET AWAY FROM HER, RIGHT. NOW." Atem had grabbed Dartz by the collar and forcefully dragged him away from Aura. With an intense grip, he shoved the man towards Kaiba who was waiting to put a death grip on the intruder as well. Kaiba grabbed his other arm and held him over the balcony.

"Alright gentlemen, I just wanted to be polite to the lady. I'll be on my way out, I'll have to catch up with you later."

The lights managed to go black at that moment, and when they came up again, Dartz was gone.

"That was freaky as shit, fucking hell...how the fuck do you two know that creep?"

"You could say that Motou and I had a run-in with him a few years ago. He's a bastard and doesn't have any right to be here."

She huffed loudly and reached for the bottle of champagne. She took a long swig straight from the bottle. Kaiba removed his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, taking the bottle from her immediately and pouring another glass.

Atem's nerves settled a little and he watched Aura rise from her seat and stretch.

"I need to get this out of my system. I've been too uptight lately. Will you two join me for a dance? I love this song."

_**I had a way then losing it all on my own  
I had a heart then but the queen has been overthrown  
And I'm not sleeping now the dark is too hard to beat  
And I'm not keeping now the strength I need to push me**_

_**You show the lights that stop me turn to stone**_  
_**You shine It when I'm alone**_  
_**And so I tell myself that I'll be strong**_  
_**And dreaming when they're** gone_

_**'Cause they're calling, calling, calling me home**_  
_**Calling, calling, calling home**_  
_**You show the lights that stop me turn to stone**_  
_**You shine It when I'm alone**_

She had grabbed both men by the wrist and dragged them with her to the dance floor. They had both just stuck up for her. Just like in her dreams.

She closed her eyes and let the music move her to. Her hands in the air and her heart beating to the bass of the music, she felt a hand on her waist and turned to see Seto dancing in sway with her.

Atem watched the two and realized this was Fate acting all over again. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. A woman, a petite woman with silver hair pulled into a high pony tail whom he knew he had seen before smiled at him. She started to dance to the chorus of the song and pulled Atem towards her.

He smiled, feeling his heart let go of the anxiety for a moment and feeling his hips and body move with hers. People in this time really did know how to have fun.

The girl brought herself closer and closer to him. He leaned in as she went to whisper in his ear.

"My name is Kisara, it's nice to meet you, Mr. Motou."

Atem's face brightened with recognition. So Fate liked to put its own spin on things as well...

The song faded into another and Atem looked up to see Yugi and Anzu nearby still wrapped up in each other completely. Joey and Mai were a couple of people over from them, apparently having found each other after all these years as well. Serenity and Tristan were sitting at the bar chatting up excitedly and Serenity twirling around as the cosmopolitan started to go to her head.


	12. Chapter 11 Part 2

I think this chapter is kind of...sexy

* * *

Seto and Aura had gotten even closer to each other, and as Atem turned back to the lovely Kisara, she was pressed against him. He could feel her warmth and the bass moving through both of them.

She moved her body a little faster and twisted and danced, Atem's hands drifted to her waist and he joined her, watching her skin glow in the neon light.

**_My body needs a hero  
Come and save me  
Something tells me you know how to save me  
I've been feeling weird (oh)  
Oh, I need you to come and rescue me_**

**_Make me come alive,  
Come on turn me on  
Touch me, save my life  
Come on and turn me on  
I'm too young to die  
Come on and turn me on  
Turn me on  
Turn me on  
Turn me on  
Turn me_**_ on_

The heat from the dance floor made it up through his chest and his cheeks. She kept inching closer until their arms were wrapped around each other, dancing as though nobody else in the world could see them. The rainbow lights around them had formed a blissful bubble of ignorance and magic.

He felt a wave of hormones and adrenaline rush him, a feeling he didn't recognize after all these thousands of years. She felt so warm and soft beneath his hands, the vibration from the bass made him feel like his heart was beating in his ears. This was euphoria. His soul felt free of everything for just a moment. The flush of endorphins and warmth blushed his skin as Kisara's lips drew dangerously close to his...waves of pleasure wracked his body and mind as he completely lost himself in this moment. His dignity as a king had long since gone when she moved in perfect rhythm, enticing his hands to explore the waist of her dress and move his body with hers. The blood rushed to all the right places and he could just feel the beginnings of sweat on his brow.

He finally felt completely human again...and Holy Ra, it felt amazing.

They danced until the music slowed for a few minutes and she bumped and danced all the way to the bar as she held his hands. Aura was also sitting with Seto there, texting Anzu. Mokuba was in a conga line going absolutely crazy across the floor and Seto didn't look too amused with his brother.

Joey and Mai were absolutely enveloped with each other, and Yugi had separated from Anzu for the moment, while she was off dancing with some girlfriends from the dance studio.

Kisara giggled as she was finally far enough away from the speakers to hear herself think.

"I guess I'm lucky I ended up dancing with man of the hour. You're not bad, you know. You seem like you were made to be the spotlight, Mr. Motou."

The blush returned to his face as she ordered them both a drink.

"Please, miss Kisara, my name is Atem. It's been lovely spending tonight with you as well. Are you from Domino City?"

She nodded as she propped herself up on the bar stool.

"I am. My parents immigrated here from Egypt, though. You know all about that don't you? Didn't you just come back from Egypt?"

He slipped onto the stool next to her and had a glass slid across the bar to him.

"A jack and coke, Mr. Motou. Let me know if I can get you anything else!" The young bartender smiled and continued wiping glasses. Atem nodded with a smile and sipped on the drink to find it not too strong.

Yugi made his way towards his brother and hopped up on the bar next to Atem.

"Hey aibou. How's it going?"

Atem had the silliest smile on his face, Yugi laughed upon seeing his expression. For a moment, Dartz and all the worries of the world were behind him and would soon be drowning in this glass and his dancing partner's sparkling blue eyes.

Kisara poked her head around Atem to see her friend Yugi and wave.

"Kiss, how are you? You know Anzu has been looking for you tonight?"

She smiled and pulled out her phone to text her friend. Atem felt his own vibrate in his pocket and saw a new message. He hadn't even fully grasped the phone-number idea, but touched the screen and a short message popped up on the screen.

"Thanks for sticking up for me earlier. It would be cool to hang out with you sometime. - Aura S."

Atem's mind drifted from the conversation going on around him and he looked up to see Aura sitting on the other end of the bar looking at him. He stared back at her for a moment and waved his phone so she acknowledged receipt of the message.

"_This conversation will have to happen sooner or later. I have to see if I can unlock her memory...our memories. Our bond..."_

Kisara touched his hand gently and he looked up directly into her eyes. She was sipping on a pink martini, and seemed absolutely taken with her new dancing partner. She pointed to the stage where a group of professional dancers were standing like statues, and when the bass suddenly swept the speakers again, they all danced in perfect symmetry.

This reminded Atem a lot of his coronation festival. It also made him think that if Kisara was also carried over into this time, that it was possible to unlock her memories and spirit to.

Atem and Kisara talked for a while over another round of drinks, and both of them feeling warm and a little more loose returned to the dancing, bumping, and grinding that the DJ induced with his music.

Hours passed, and after more conversation with friends, various brands of alcohol and paparazzi photos the party had wound down and the sun would be coming up soon. Nobody except Joey, Mai and Tristan were terribly intoxicated. Seto and Aura had sat in a corner whispering to each other most of the night, and it had bothered Atem.

The overprotective brother in him told him to throw Seto Kaiba over the bar and stay away from her, but the logical part reminded him that Seto had taken care of her for thousands of years, literally. And that wasn't likely to change anytime soon.

Kisara kept fighting for his attention, although it wasn't difficult to bring his violet eyes back around to hers with the touch of a finger. There was some sort of electric attraction between them, and Atem loved the feeling it gave him. She slipped his phone from his hand, programmed her number into its contact list and left the party with a gentle kiss on his cheek.

"It's been wonderful spending tonight with you, Atem. Maybe we can talk about our trips to Egypt sometime soon." She whispered in his ear and gently slid her fingers across his arm and through his hands before waving goodbye. It sent chills up his spine, and he shook it off, wanting to see where Yugi had gone and if Seto and Aura had left yet. The latter two were still in the corner, Aura looking half asleep and Kaiba still enraptured by his Blackberry.


	13. Chapter 12

Seto noticed that Aura had slipped a little closer to him. Her head was resting against his shoulder and her eyes were closed. She looked at peace despite the crazy partying that had been going on around them all night.

He wasn't quite sure how to react to such intimacy, and held his breath for a moment before slipping his arm around her and pulling her in a little closer. She was half-asleep at this point, and her hands came up to clutch his shirt and snuggle in a little closer still. Seto finished his email and put his phone down. Now his worry was why and how Dartz had shown back up and why he seemed so interested in the casual meeting of himself, Aura and Atem.

Yugi flagged his brother down and asked if he wanted to leave. Atem was tired and nodded, smiling and content with just how well the night had gone. Dartz popped back into his thoughts a few times, but he shook it off. He'd worry about it tomorrow.

Seto lifted Aura off the seat and she stirred a little.

"Don't...I'll just carry you. You can't walk in shoes like that this time of morning." Atem noticed Seto trying to carry Aura outside and stopped to help him. He took her arm over one shoulder and they all left together, seeing the sun just brightening over the horizon.

Seto started his car and Atem gently set Aura in the passenger seat. She thanked him, half drunk, half asleep, but remembered his name and softly smiled as he shut the door.

Yugi, not seeming terribly tired chatted with Atem the whole drive home, but both young men fell into their beds, clothes and all, and were out solid for another ten hours.

"Hang on, my Pharaoh! Please hang on! For us, for your guardians, for Egypt my lord! We need you...Aura needs you! Your sister is at the palace pleading for you my king...!"

Atem struggled for breath, his torso bleeding profusely and his hands scarred from battle. He reached up to take Seto's hand and grasped it as tightly as he could.

"Ss..Seto. Finish this, seal us all away in the millennium puzzle. It's the only way. As long as my spirit...locked inside..."

"My king, we need you! Don't leave Egypt without a king!"

Atem pulled the Puzzle from his neck and offered it to Seto.

"You are king now...Seto...please. This is...the only...way. Seal us...my body here is finished. Please...care for my..sister. Care for Aura, ensure her happiness."

Seto's eyes filled with tears as he felt his pharaoh's spirit leaving this world. Seto gripped his dear friend's hand one last time and nodded.

"My devotion is to you, Atem. My king, I will make you proud." Seto shut his eyes and began the incantation...everything went black...and Atem stopped breathing.

Atem shot up from his bed, realizing it was mid afternoon, and trying to understand why this nightmare kept haunting him.

He looked to his hikari, who was not there and sat up, rubbing his temples and the wishing the slight headache that was forming there would dissipate.

"That's...definitely a downfall of this whole...body thing."

He climbed to his feet and felt the room spin a little bit. Last night had been interesting in more ways than one. He had never let go of his dignity like that before.

He slipped into the shower and slipped into a pair of jeans, walking down the carpeted stairs expecting to find Grandpa and possibly Yugi.

When he saw the form of a stretched out Aura across a tatami mat in the floor, he realized that he probably should have put a shirt on. She was much less dressed up than she had been the night before, wearing a baggy cut up t-shirt and very short shorts. Her hair was messy and not brushed or kept and she had on a gigantic pair of sunglasses.

Yugi was sitting opposite to her, his head resting in his hands and they were talking. Atem felt the strong desire to run the other direction and avoid this confrontation entirely, until he heard the discussion between them.

"...I just don't know what to do Yugi. I know you and your Grandpa and your brother have been to Egypt...I just keep having these dreams. I thought about the little Egyptian statues you all had in your shop window and I just came straight here. These nightmares are wearing me down...its not just preventing sleep but it's eating away at me on the inside. I've had some of the worst panic attacks waking up from these nightmares Yugi...please...can you think of anything? Anything that will help me?"

Atem stepped around the corner, a towel still slung over his shoulder and observed the strange situation in his living room floor. Yugi turned around to give him a strange look, feeling a little awkward.

"Ohh hello Atem. Have you recovered from last night yet? I've only had a couple hours of sleep and I am still so faded." She smiled and didn't dare remove her sunglasses to reveal her darkened blood-shot eyes.

Atem saw a fresh pot of coffee on the counter and proceeded to pour himself a strong, black cup. He settled down on the mat next to Yugi and smiled at Aura.

"I'm tired yes, but I only had a couple of drinks. I think my muscles are more sore from all the running around."

The room fell awkwardly silent and Atem realized she might have been clamming up suddenly because of his presence.

"Oh, I'm sorry Yugi, am I interrupting something?"

Aura rolled over onto her back and stretched out, she yawned loudly and shook her head.

"No, no don't worry about it Atem. I was telling your brother about all these nightmares I've been having. I visited Egypt during my undergrad and I have all these wonderful memories there...but on and off my whole life...even before that trip and definitely a lot more afterward...I have these AWFUL nightmares and panic attacks when I think about it."

Yugi and Atem immediately looked at each other, as though they seemed to know what the other was thinking.

"and then last night with that creepy Dartz guy...I just felt so violated by him looking at me. I feel like he's one of the people stalking me in my nightmares."

Yugi's jaw dropped when Dartz was mentioned. Atem took a long drink of the hot coffee before addressing that.

"I'm really sorry for that, miss Aura. Dartz has a history with my brother and I...and your boss Seto Kaiba. It's not a very fond one. The last time we saw him we had hoped it was for the last."

Yugi elbowed Atem and looked as though Atem had committed some crime.

"Dartz, THE Dartz showed up last night and nobody bothered to let me know? I haven't worked out in a while but I would have loved to give that guy a piece of my..."

"Yeaaaah. I was lucky your big bro was there Yugi, and Seto." She looked at Atem and laughed at him, realizing he had awful tan lines from all the jewelry he wore. Atem was confused and realized this incarnation of Aura still had a few trinkets loose in her brain. She was incredibly intelligent and confident in her own right, but was easily distracted.

"I thought you two were literally going to tear that guy in half. He must have pissed you guys the fuck off a while back. He seems like a creepy asshole though."

She sat up and nearly fell forward into Yugi's lap. The alcohol didn't seem to have worn off quite yet.

Atem noticed the gigantic tattoo of the Wad jet Eye and hieroglyphics across her thigh and down her leg. He knew the link was still there, if only he knew how to explain it to her...

"Hang on a minute Aura, I'll grab you a cup of coffee. Atem, come with me for a minute."

Yugi pulled his aibou into the kitchen and around the corner into the laundry area.

"There is obviously something iffy going on here. You haven't even been back a week, we have this strange run in with your long lost sister and now she's having weird nightmares about Egypt and the shadow games?" Atem crossed his arms and stared at the floor.

"We need to help her, Yugi. I need to, I'm just not ready to tell her yet."

"She might need this, yami. You are probably the only person who can give her the answers. You're the only one who knows whats wrong!"

"Yugi, I really think we need to worry about Dartz for now. He seemed a little too interested in her. Just keep her in the dark for now. Please, Yugi. I'm just not ready...to deal with all of this yet. It's not like I'm even really her brother in this time..."

Yugi rolled his eyes and went to pour that coffee. Atem slid back into the living room and noticed Aura wasn't sprawled out on the floor anymore, but sitting up and staring at the small golden sarcophagus that Yugi kept the millennium puzzle in.

"Aura, are you sure you're alright?"

She pulled off her glasses and wiped away a single tear.

"I just...I was hoping things were going to start getting better when I moved to Japan...and they did. Now I'm confused about a lot of things...my emotions are all over the place...Ugh...who am I kidding? I don't even know you guys that well...I'm really sorry for barging in here and unloading on you both. I don't have any family I care to associate with, and besides Seto and Mokuba I don't really have any friends...and I wouldn't really consider Seto a friend."


	14. Chapter 13

A little POV change here, from OC to Kaiba.

* * *

Atem looked so sad for her, why did he look that way?

"_Why does he look like that towards me, the man just met me yesterday and it's like he's staring into my soul. Just like Seto does...it bothers me so much. I really need to stop being so transparent when I'm upset..."_

She sipped on the coffee Yugi made for her and tried to be less concerned about her nightmares. Atem had promised to take her to the ancient Egypt exhibit at the Domino Museum sometime.

"Like I said, I'm really sorry you two. I didn't mean to bother you today. I like to pretend I'm a bad ass all the time...but I guess that doesn't always work out for me."

"Don't sweat it. We're glad to have you around. You chill Kaiba out a lot, and you're pretty bad ass if I say so myself. I cried a little when I got my first tattoo, I haven't been brave enough to go back and have more added to it...haha...and you're a work of art!"

Atem raised an eyebrow and looked at Yugi. Aura laughed a little. Tattoos had been the least of her pains.

"Yugi. You're the king of games and can't stand some ink? We will have to change that my friend. I've been begging Seto to have his back piece finished for months but he's been too uptight."

They sat around and chatted for a while, allowing Aura to let some weight off her chest and open up to the Motou brothers. She was quite tomboyish and talked about the first time she won a game of duel monsters. She even talked a little about her 'family' back home and growing up in the United States.

"I loved it there, I really did. That was home...but it wasn't worth staying for all the crap I put up with. Once I graduated high school I bolted for a student program in Egypt. I was only there a month or so, but I came back and rushed through my next couple of semesters to get to another study abroad program here in Japan...and you know what? I've never gone back...and I like it that way."

The evening rolled by and Aura felt that she didn't need to overstay her welcome. She had sobered up completely and thanked Yugi and Atem for everything. Seto had texted her...just to see how she was doing. Parts of last night were a little blurry...especially leaving.

"I'll text you both later, okay? Thanks for keeping me company today...I really needed it."

Atem offered a hand to help her off the floor, and it seemed like for some reason when they grasped hands...she couldn't think of anything but Egypt. Those strange Egyptian dreams...was it possible he was the other protective shadow instead of Yugi? Was it all three of them?

Aura left the Motou house and looked back at the warm glow that radiated from it. They seemed like such a happy family. She was a little jealous of Yugi and Atem, she had decided. They were brothers, inseparable. That was something she never could fathom.

"Goddammit Seto, what the fuck is wrong with you?"

The young CEO held a copy of the local paper, it's headlines covered in the most provocative shots the paparazzi could have managed after last night. There were pictures of Yugi and Atem waving to the crowd, of Joey indulging in one too many beers with his dear friend Tristan.

However, -the- picture...the photo that was considerably compromising and left Seto kicking himself for his 'lack' of judgments the night before.

The photo was of Atem and Kisara, hands all over each other and dancing suggestively, while Seto and Aura were right next to them, unknowingly, and were engaging in similar behavior.

He could always blame it on alcohol and peer pressure...but that was unbecoming of Seto Kaiba. Why did he care so much? He was a young twenty-something billionaire and was almost expected to behave in such a way.

"He hadn't done anything like that before, but...something was different about last night. Something was different about her. She always kept his attention...even when he didn't want her to.

Seto wandered around his bedroom, staring outside at the Domino city lights and mentally cursing, over and over.

He kept seeing her in his mind, dancing, swaying and the light making her appear ghostly beautiful.

Beautiful? Beautiful?

"Did I really just...?"

When her face came to mind, his breath stopped short and all he could imagine was her being next to him. This was wrong...Seto did not have time for this. This silly lust wasn't real. It wasn't worth it.

But dammit, why couldn't he stop thinking about it? It was worse than those plaguing visions of Kisara.

He sat on his bed, leaning over and burying his hands in his hair. He gritted his teeth and kept trying to force her out of this thoughts.

Then his phone went off. He instinctively reached for it and the message was of course...from her. She had spent the day with Yugi and Atem.

Really now?

Mokuba started singing loudly in the bathroom, briefly interrupting Seto's thoughts.

"_Ohhh, If I was your boyfriend, I'd never let you go...I'd keep you on my arm girl...you'd never be alone...and I can be a gentleman...anything you wantttttt..."_

How obnoxious, little brother.

And how it didn't help the situation.

Seto was rather bothered by the fact that she had spent the day with the Motou dweebs. She was his assistant, his employee...she was his friend first.

Friend? Did he really consider her a friend?

His mind was flooded with memories of his actions and his repeated trust of the girl for no apparent reason. Why had he spent so much money and time on her? Why bother?

No matter how much her 'weirdness' offended him...he could never really get offended. He couldn't think of a reason to be displeased with who she was or how she looked. Her work was always top notch...her attitude always in check.

...and her skin always flawless. Her eyes feigning a passionate haze when she looked at him sometimes. Wait...maybe that was his mind imagining things.

"FUCK. This is not good...this is not good. I am not that obsessive...I'm not protective or any of that bullshit..."

Then he thought about Dartz, and the sheer rage that followed. How dare that bastard come any where near him...near her. Dartz had been focused on her, and that pissed him off more than anything.

Seto stared at his phone, not knowing what to reply.

What if Atem or Yugi had caught her eye? Was that what this was about?

"I'll pick you up for work tomorrow, promptly. Have your reports ready to go by then." His reply was meaningless...except that he was forcing her to ride with him to the office. He would ask her about it then.

...No he wouldn't.

But...he wanted to know.

Scratch that. He needed to know if there was something going on with Yugi or one of his dweeb friends or his freaky Egyptian counterpart.

Seto's expression became frightened...anxious when he realized the dangerous truth to 'needing to know.'

Because if there was, he was too far gone to avoid it now.

If something did happen to her.

If she had fallen for Yugi or his so called 'brother.'

If Dartz got his hands on her...

Damn. Now that all stung pretty badly... a feeling of being stabbed in the chest by an invisible blade. A feeling Seto only experienced when his own brother had been forcefully taken from him.

If something happened to Aura, he would be hurt.

Seto Kaiba would be hurt.

….he would be heartbroken.


	15. Chapter 14

Man I really need to get back into actually writing the ending of this and just not editing this chapters as I post them...i'll catch up soon and then be screwed...

* * *

It was too bad the Pharaoh had decided the otherside wasn't good enough for eternity, according to Dartz.

Not that it mattered, because he had a whole host of information that Atem didn't, and he definitely planned to use that against him this time around.

Through Atem's first soul banishment, the evil spirit that had cursed Dartz and soiled the host body... the king of Atlantis had been all that was left in this world. Atem hadn't been quite as thorough as he intended.

Which also meant his former memories of being king were retained with the spirit.

In a time long past, Dartz's nation was prosperous and he attended a rather exclusive meeting of the world's rulers in 3000BC. It was there they met to discuss cross border trade and currency exchange...and also where he met two very important people.

King Aknamkanon of Egypt was the first, and Empress Iyoka Meiji was the second. The reason for such direct meeting is because said king of Egypt was getting very physically close to the said Empress.

The two appeared to converse directly for much of this conference, and Dartz suspected that the beautiful young empress had caught the King's eye...despite his wife and young son waiting for him in Cairo.

They managed to slip around the emperor of Japan and disguise much of their meeting as being delegate related...but several people...including Dartz realized what was really going on.

To add, Dartz had questioned the beautiful woman about it herself, invoking his magic of the Orichalchos to force her to spill her truths to him...he had discovered...

The woman was a youkai, a sort of kitsune mother who had disguised herself to seduce the kings and queens of the world for power and wealth.

What he didn't expect, was for the powerful youkai to have become pregnant with the King's child. It was convenient for the woman to be able to disguise her state of being with child to her husband...and the Dartz had seen to it himself when the child was birthed near the end of this long delegation between the nations... that he had banished the kitsune mother to her tomb.

It was then that Aknamkanon, being weighed with the guilt of infidelity and the loss of his lover took the child in the night and set out for his home in Egypt, where word of his wife's death had furthered the despair in his heart.

The girl child, half-devil and ignorant of such things, became adopted quietly into the palace of the king. The infant son would never know the difference, and anyone who questioned the king otherwise would be dealt with.

Thus, Aura Aknamkanon became the princess of Egypt, and half-sister to the current prince, Atem.

When she became old enough to think in any sense for herself, the darkness within the child raged free of her will and damaged the places and people around her.

Fearing for his kingdom, the Pharaoh had her kept under tight lock and key in the houses of healing, wishing desperately for the darkness in his daughter's heart to dissipate with love.

Only the love of her caring older brother made her feel safe and happy, a feat that the king himself was unable to achieve. When Seto, the unspoken nephew of the king came to the castle as a youth to study under the priests, he had caught her eye and he as well...was able to bring joy to the light in the child's heart.

It was always an uphill battle, but Aura, named for the colors and darkness within light, grew up to be a coveted, beautiful princess of Egypt.

A meeting with the criminal Bakura, seeking help from the King of Atlantis... used the darkness with Dartz's former incantation to seek out the royal palace of Egypt and request help to save his dying nation...a nation crumbling under their leader's darkness.

Egypt had refused, and the lust for the princess had grown as the darkness had.

But this time...that would be different.

And the immense power passed down to her through the devil mother and that had swelled under a mystical repression from the king's priests...would finally be his.

He would control the dark magic that made her so mysterious, and he would have his revenge...his lusts fulfilled.

He would rip the princess away from the Priest that married her and the Pharaoh brother that protected her in the past.

This time, victory would be sweet and free of the dark sands of Egypt.

All he had to do was get her alone, and she would belong to him...the time needed to be right.

Soon...so soon...


End file.
